Foreign Correspondence

Zooming with Chloé Zhao - what could better typify the pandemic era? Alison Willmore (@alisonwillmore) takes us inside how she did her recent cover story for New York magazine about Zhao. We also hear about what it’s like to be a critic - from panning the remake of Mulan to championing foreign movies that get much less attention in the United States

Countries featured: USA, UK

Publications featured: IFC, IndieWire, BuzzFeed News, New York magazine, Vulture

Alison discusses growing up in the Bay Area with a Singaporean-Chinese mom and British dad (8:22), using Craigslist to get her first apartment and first job at IFC in New York (16:02), getting hired by IndieWire to launch a TV vertical (21:48), Apple Watches and cold hard cash at BuzzFeed News (24:50), the art of the bad movie review (32:48), Bacurau and foreign films (38:15), how being a critic changed how she views movies for pleasure (44:43), a dream assignment involving Martin Scorcese that came at the wrong time (49:10), reporting her profile of Chloé Zhao (51:39) and finally the lightning round (1:01:33).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Alison’s review of Nobody - https://bit.ly/3o1g6u3

Her essay on Asian American character actors - https://bit.ly/3f1Tc1r

Her interview with Lena Dunham and Judd Apatow - https://bit.ly/3uz5bdc

Her review of Mulan - https://bit.ly/3vY7dnP

Her top 10 movies of 2020 - https://bit.ly/2PZXsG8

Martin Scorsese’s The Film Foundation - https://bit.ly/2SxUmtT

Alison’s cover story on Chloé Zhao - https://bit.ly/3exJu85

Nick Pinkerton’s Substack - https://bit.ly/33tkNDe

Ryan Broderick’s Garbage Day newsletter - https://bit.ly/3hcqQ7b

NYT story on anti-Asian hate crimes - https://nyti.ms/3f8bfDd

The Black Tapes podcast - https://bit.ly/3y7YLnQ

The collection that includes Justin M. Damiano - https://amzn.to/3nZhkG1

Follow us on Twitter @foreignpod or on Facebook at facebook.com/foreignpod

Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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The podcast tradition of foreign correspondents getting ejected from countries continues. For Gerry Shih, China Correspondent for the Washington Post, there was the added twist of getting kicked out during a global pandemic. On the eve of his reassignment as WaPo’s India bureau chief, Gerry looks back at his time covering China, which he is convinced is now a bigger story than ever.

Countries featured: China, Tajikistan, USA, Mongolia

Publications featured: Associated Press, Reuters, Washington Post, New York Times

Gerry discusses his childhood between California, China and Illinois (6:35), a wakeup call to the realities of journalism on his first day as an NYT intern (14:50), working in the Reuters’ Beijing Bureau alongside Jake (19:45), jumping to AP where he reported some of the biggest stories about Uyghur persecution (25:38), getting kicked out of China with a raft of other American correspondents (33:54), the challenges of reporting on China from the outside (41:37), the importance of digging into big stories and not letting go (49:37), his story finding a secret Chinese military base in Tajikistan (53:40), and the lightning round (1:03:28).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Gerry’s story on China using U.S. computer chips to build weapons - https://wapo.st/3sMu5og

His scoop with a first look inside China’s Uyghur indoctrination camps - https://bit.ly/3ep7Uzc

Several of his other key Uyghur stories - https://bit.ly/32NuKuS

His story on a Chinese military outpost in Tajikistan - https://wapo.st/32M7Sfi

Fresh Air on NPR - https://n.pr/3xjc3gK

ESPN’s The Jump podcast - https://es.pn/2QXZ5UN

The Lowe Post NBA podcast - https://es.pn/2QWei8U

NYT story on Mexican woman who stalked her daughter’s killers - https://nyti.ms/3aUnbav

American Factory documentary on Netflix - https://bit.ly/2S2uaHG

Once Upon a Distant War book - https://amzn.to/3aCghq8

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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What do bagels and sexual harassment have in common? The food industry! Serena Dai (@ssdai), a senior features editor at the San Francisco Chronicle, has made her name by thinking and writing about all things food - emphasis on ALL THINGS - from the hilarious/inconsequential to the direly serious issues of sexual misconduct and racism. A local journalist in a previous life, she explains how food journalism is not so different considering you usually only eat the food immediately around you.

Countries featured: USA

Publications featured: Eater, DNAinfo, Associated Press, San Francisco Chronicle, NU Intel

Serena discusses bagels (3:18), her start in high school and college journalism plus AP and NYmag internships (11:50), her first jobs at the Atlantic Wire and local journalism at DNAinfo (23:57), transitioning to food journalism with Eater New York (32:28), her philosophy on world building through food stories and restaurant reviews (40:21), her current job at the Chron (48:37), her appearance on David Chang's Ugly Delicious (52:35), a story about a miraculous fall while rock climbing and comfort circles (56:56), her story package on Chinese food in New York inspired by WeChat (1:04:25), and finally the lightning round (1:14:51).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

The original California bagel hot take - https://nyti.ms/3mBtVys

Serena’s hot take on bagels - https://bit.ly/3218ihy

The Ultimate Guide to Chinese Food in NYC - https://bit.ly/3d7bVJl

The Daigest newsletter - https://bit.ly/3dMU61a

Serena's episode of Ugly Delicious - https://bit.ly/3uFgAIb

Eater’s weekly newsletter from Amanda Kludt - https://bit.ly/3uKGSZN

The Family Meal newsletter - https://bit.ly/3saMFpA

From the Desk of Alicia Kennedy newsletter - https://bit.ly/3dWe1uH

Who Weekly podcast - https://bit.ly/3g08Qwd

Time to Say Goodbye podcast - https://apple.co/3mDxLXG

The Ringer’s Guide to Binge-Watching Survivor - https://bit.ly/3wLKBYH

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Deep in the jungle, Fabiano Maisonnave finds amazing stories to tell. He is the only correspondent for a major Brazilian newspaper to be based in the Amazon rainforest region. Long before he reported on remote Amazon tribes, Fabiano tells us about leaving his first assignment in farm country over death threats. He then sets off on a long period as a foreign correspondent, covering Latin America from all over the region, and later becoming Folha’s correspondent in Beijing. 

Countries featured: Brazil, Venezuela, Honduras, China

Publications featured: Folha de S.Paulo

Fabiano discusses growing up in a closed community around a megadam project during the Brazilian dictatorship (7:45), his first job digging into corruption in Brazil’s farm country and being run out of town (15:10), reporting around Latin America, including a coup in Honduras that left him in close quarters with the ousted president (22:21), moving to China to report on everything from fake shoes to geopolitics (26:45), returning to Brazil to report on the Amazon (33:19), the story that got away about a political murder in the early 2000s (38:56), rooting out a corrupt businessman attempting to bribe indigenous to mine their territory (43:55), dangers and challenges of reporting in the rainforest and living in Manaus (49:09) and finally the lightning round (59:38). 

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Jake’s story on the Brazilian military in the Amazon - https://reut.rs/3w0b0Se

Fabiano’s story on traditional runaway slave communities (English) - https://bit.ly/3tZkV8Y

Fabiano’s english language work on Climate Home - https://bit.ly/3cqKSbg

His story on a polluted waterfall (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/3cqftpy

Fabiano’s story on Chinese knockoff shoes (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/3lSSuXo

His story on attempts to bribe indigenous to mine their land (Portugese) - https://bit.ly/3conWcK

His story accompanying indigenous attempting to shut down illegal mines (Portuguese) -  https://bit.ly/3tZ8Z6S

Amazonia Real (Portuguese) - https://bit.ly/39lkWMn

NYT Book Review podcast - https://apple.co/3fk1Bij

Behind the Beautiful Forevers by Katherine Boo - https://amzn.to/2UpGXSm

Harry Hole by Jo Nesbo wiki - https://bit.ly/3lXnGVb

Ten Days that Shook the World by John Reed - https://amzn.to/39jsgbz

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Prague, come for the theater, stay for the podcasting. Morgan Childs, co-host and producer of the Foreign Insiders podcast, tells us about getting her start reporting stories on food and “weird” Eastern Europe. She has now found a new professional life as an audio journalist, launching her podcast series on migration in the Czech Republic.

Countries featured: USA, Poland, Ukraine, Liberland, Czech Republic

Publications featured: Saveur, BBC, GQ, Lucky Peach, Vice

Morgan discusses how her theater studies took her to the Czech Republic for the first time (7:17), getting started as a freelancer by telling "weird Czech stories" (13:10), burning out on freelance writing and turning to podcasting (25:10), a story that got away about a made up pan-Slavic language (30:20), her GQ story about a made up country and its unsavory founders (33:29), her podcast Foreign Insiders (44:48) and the lightning round (53:05).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Foreign Insiders podcast - https://foreigninsiders.com

Morgan’s story about snail farming - https://bit.ly/3viXqci

Her Saveur story on Polish milk bars - https://bit.ly/30IkJOw

Her story about a Ukranian violinist - http://bbc.in/3bHcitk

Her Vice story about a town made of marzipan - http://bit.ly/3qQKSFO

Her Vice story on stinky cheese - http://bit.ly/3lpOeyt

Her GQ story about a made up country - http://bit.ly/3qL3wyP

Radio Prague - http://bit.ly/2Ng6QnP

Monocle 24 podcast - http://bit.ly/3lleWbh

Washington Post podcast Canary - http://wapo.st/3qJZGFW

On Being with Krista Tippett podcast - http://bit.ly/2OTEHmJ

David Kestenbaum on This American Life - http://bit.ly/3rNw1gp

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Jane Arraf (@janearraf) didn’t go seeking war, war came to her. She first moved to Iraq in 1997 under Saddam Hussein and was kicked out twice before returning when the U.S. invaded. She also bore witness to the carnage in Mosul in the wake of ISIS. Her reporting on conflict stands out for its humanity, vibrancy and - when possible - hope. She is now the Baghdad bureau chief of The New York Times.

Countries featured: Canada, Haiti, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt

Publications featured: NPR, CNN, Reuters, New York Times

Jane discusses growing up in Canada and starting in local TV (4:51), reporting in Montreal, Haiti, the Middle East and elsewhere for Reuters (11:56), opening the CNN bureau in Baghdad and getting kicked out a couple times under Saddam (22:08), covering the Iraq war (31:22), how the nature of conflicts (such as the war with ISIS) has changed and made it more dangerous for journalists (40:14), her story about how young people began rebuilding Mosul post-ISIS without government help (51:27) and the lightning round (58:24).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Jane’s story on Yazidi’s reburying their dead post-ISIS - http://nyti.ms/3qXoQlo

Her CNN story that got her expelled from Iraq - http://cnn.it/3bP1hES

Lindsey Hilsum’s book In Extremis - https://amzn.to/2O4rwiK

Jane’s story D.I.Y. Mosul for Rough Translation podcast - http://n.pr/3uFLIYQ

Iraq Oil Report - https://bit.ly/3dTEOcM

AFP story Baghdad: Forever on the Brink - https://bit.ly/2NEFFTY

Jane’s story on the Prophet Joshua’s tomb in Baghdad - http://nyti.ms/3kwuJ6U

Martha Gellhorn wiki - http://bit.ly/3cnZGVT

It’s a Beautiful day in the Neighborhood on IMDb - http://imdb.to/3r1aXTt

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Remember traveling? While you’re stuck inside in the pandemic, you can still travel far and wide thanks to the Far from Home podcast by public radio veteran Scott Gurian. Scott takes you along for the ride on one of the world’s epic road trips from London to Mongolia and back across the deserts of Iran and mountains of central Asia. The Peabody award winner talks about how a not-so-adventurous guy from New Jersey came to document that trip and others.

Countries featured: Iran, Turkey, Turkmenistan, Cuba, Mexico, USA

Publications featured: NPR, WNYC, Planet Money, Pacifica radio

Scott discusses beginning his career by making it up as he goes along in advocacy and community radio (6:44), his “driveway moment” that turns him on to NPR and getting into mainstream public radio in Oklahoma (13:17), being thrust into covering Hurricane Sandy (25:47), how a trip to Cuba set him on a path toward Mongol Rally and travel podcasting (30:00), the nitty gritty of the economics of podcasting, the ins and outs of public radio universe and the tension between podcasts and radio (41:10), jpw frozen equipment in Alaska and sketchy bootleggers lead some stories to fall through (47:00), his years reporting about the Hurricane Sandy response and the Peabody winning story (51:08), and finally the lightning round (55:25).

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Scott’s podcast Far from Home - http://bit.ly/3qpH2Ec

HowSound podcast by Rob Rosenthal - http://apple.co/3pmQdnk

WNYC’s Peabody winning coverage of Hurricane Sandy response - http://bit.ly/3ai2VQb

Scott’s story on Antigua and Barbuda for Planet Money - http://n.pr/3d5rlOy

Vox podcast Today, Explained - http://bit.ly/3dapcRD

An Arm and a Leg podcast - http://bit.ly/37beYwH

In the Dark podcast Season 2 - http://apple.co/2GYGUdc

Chef Yotam Ottolenghi wiki - http://bit.ly/2OsLX92

Milk Street cooking website - http://bit.ly/3qlDu5D

Bill Buford’s book Among the Thugs - https://amzn.to/3jN3J2D

Throughline podcast - http://n.pr/3s44jfl

WNYC’s On the Media radio show - http://bit.ly/2NkxhZ8

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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Sarah Esther Maslin explains what it's like to work at the Economist including the lack of bylines, its distinctive voice and viewpoint, and an unusual time when she broke some news. 

Sarah’s story about the Amazon rainforest - http://econ.st/3oCdC3I

Her story about the Honduras election - http://econ.st/3tbOXGL

We go deep on a history of Central American violence with Sarah Esther Maslin (@sarahmaslin). She discusses the years she’s spent reporting out a prospective book about Latin America’s largest modern massacre in El Salvador, stemming from her lifelong fascination with violent tragedies and the marks they leave on society. That project led her to freelance journalism and ultimately to Brazil with The Economist.

Countries featured: Brazil, El Salvador, Argentina

Publications featured: Washington Post, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Economist

Sarah discusses growing up in California and Wisconsin (8:20), her first journalism experiences at Yale (13:44), moving to El Salvador (21:18), getting a pivotal call from the Washington Post to launch her freelance career (29:07), landing a correspondent job at The Economist that sends her to Brazil - a place she had never given much thought before (37:05), a story that got away involving extrajudicial police killings in El Salvador (50:55), her story about horrible prison conditions in El Salvador and how a case of mistaken identity led to a man’s death in jail (57:00) and the lightning round (1:04:31).

Here are some of the things we talked about:

Sarah’s story about global COVID-19 vaccine rollout - http://econ.st/3cDp2SL

New Yorker article about El Mozote massacre - http://bit.ly/2McHO8J

Michael Reid’s book on Brazil - https://amzn.to/2NQ2sMe

Sarah’s story about an innocent man’s death in an El Salvador prison - http://wapo.st/3cr61Th

Ed Yong’s 2018 piece on how the U.S. is not ready for a pandemic - http://bit.ly/3j3c8P5

Yong’s piece on tracking gender in his sources - http://bit.ly/36tVLFZ

Susan Meiselas’ photography work - http://bit.ly/3j05Lfn

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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It turns out there’s a lot more to Russia than just Putin and election meddling. Sure, we talk about that, but independent radio producer Charles Maynes in Moscow tells us tales of Russian culture from the early Soviet era to present. While he may not always think of himself as a journalist, that may be what makes his journalism work so great. Also, in a first for the podcast, we hear a poetry reading. 

Publications featured: Voice of America, NPR, 99% Invisible, Radiotopia

Countries featured: Russia, USA

Charles discusses his affinity for the Midwest where he got his start as a musician and journalist (5:10), a visit to Moscow that turns into a whole lot more (11:30), back to the US and some good jobs, some bad jobs and some weird jobs (15:49), returning to Russia on a Fulbright to work with local radio stations (18:22), modern Russia under Putin and sticking a thumb in the eye of the U.S. (26:03), telling the story of an early Soviet composer who directed the sounds of the city (40:16), the lightning round (43:58), a long but entertaining tangent about Russian architecture, the Transiberian Railroad, Lake Baikal and Chinese tourism (49:43), the lightning round again (59:38), and how he views his career (1:14:00)

Here are links to some of the things we talked about:

Charles’ Spacebridge podcast on Radiotopia - http://apple.co/3nQBlwN

His piece on Symphony of Sirens on 99% Invisible - http://apple.co/3ijCiMN

Russian news website Meduza (in English) - http://bit.ly/35HaU6j

NPR’s radio drama version of Star Wars (English, not Russian) - http://bit.ly/3qhBuuS

Wind of Change podcast - http://apple.co/352Bg1y

William B. Williams bio - http://bit.ly/3nOnJlB

James Agee’s book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men - http://bit.ly/3stNPOh

The poem Radio of the Future by Velimir Khlebnikov - http://bit.ly/38N6qgq

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Music: LoveChances (makaihbeats.net) by Makaih Beats

From: freemusicarchive.org

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